Research
Practicing On Isometric Grids and Word Mashups
To start off the project, we practiced drawing letters on an isometric grid and combining two words into one.
30 Word Mashup
When making these mashups, I tried mashing up words that “matched.” I used verbs that made sense with the noun and used adjectives that were commonly used to describe the corresponding noun. So, my words were random but not completely.
Miro Board
Focusing on three words more intensely by going through the laps was helpful. I was able to get a feel of how I should be brainstorming for the project and even figured out what word I wanted to use for my final.
Choosing Colors
Since I knew I was going to have my letters made out of baking ingredients, I chose colors that are commonly seen on the packaging of baking ingredients. Thankfully, we were allowed to use white, grey and black along with our four colors.
Exercises
Exercise #1
I was having a lot of trouble initially drawing my initials digitally, so I switched to grid paper. Once I figured it out on paper, I traced and transferred my sketch onto Illustrator and filled it in with color.
Iterations
Once I decided on using the word “Bakies,” I knew that I wanted each letter to be representative of some type of baking ingredient or supplies since the mashup was created using the words “bake” and “cookies.” So, I came up with different iterations for each letter of the word.
Letter “B”
The letter “B” was arguably the hardest one to figure out. I couldn’t figure out what had both a curved shape and a straight edge. I originally thought of a wooden spoon and bowl or a Kitchen Aid, but they both didn’t really look like the letter to me. After experimenting a little more, I realized that I could stack flour/sugar bags and use the labels on them to make the holes in the letter.
Letter “A”
From the start, I thought out making the “A” on oven. However, the lowercase “a” just in the box of an oven didn’t look like it was meant to be there to me. I messed around with making the letter the actual shape of the oven and the outcome was much better.
Letter “K”
My original idea of making the “K” a type of container for multiple utensils ended up being my final idea since I really liked how it incorporated a lot of the smaller utensils that I wasn’t able to use for the letters.
Letter “I”
I knew from the start that I wanted the dot of the “I” to be a cookie. For the rest of the “I,” I thought it was very fitting to make it a milk carton. However, I did have to change the one cookie into a stack of cookies to make it look better in the isometric form.
Letter “E”
The letter “E” was also another challenging one to figure out. I came up quite a lot of ideas, mostly out of utensils, but wasn’t very satisfied. I thought of a bowl with ingredients making the letter, an oven, a cooling rack, a cracked egg, and even a recipe book. My last iteration of the multiple ingredients making the letter was my favorite and seemed like a good way of including the smaller ingredients.
Letter “S”
At first, I wanted to make the “S” out of a liquid that was being poured out of a bottle, but I realized that the liquid would be both difficult and unusual looking through isometric form. I ended up coming up with the letter being a version of a metal cookie cutter.
Layout Ideas
I also thought about making the background something baking related. I thought of having the letters rest on a baking sheet or even an oven mitt. However, I figured that the letters were intricate enough, so I kept the background a solid color.
Once I finished illustrating my word, I also tested where to put my definition of my word and decided on the bottom right corner.
Production
Brainstorming
I started brainstorming on isometric grid paper first. Then, I went into Sketchbook to test out my ideas digitally, but ended up brainstorming even more ideas for each letter. This was the most time-consuming part, but also one of the most fun parts.
After many, many rounds of brainstorming, I started drawing the basic shapes of each letter in Illustrator. I put images of my brainstorming nearby so I had them to reference back to.
Once I had the basic shapes, I went back into each letter and added in the smaller details and shapes. I added the labels, the oven buttons, the utensils, the cookies, etc. After adding them in, I went back and added the base colors to all of them. I referred back to the four colors I chose and changed up the value when needed.
I wanted to add even more details into my illustrations that I knew I wouldn’t be able to achieve in Illustrator, so I started exploring for different apps to use and came across Adobe Fresco. It was actually quite simple and really fun to use to add in the details that I wanted, like small shading throughout and even a little cracked egg.
After including all of the small details and labeling, I added the definition of my word to the bottom right and then the background color.
Final Product
“Let’s go bakies!”
Zooming In On the Details
Reflection
Overall, I’m satisfied with how my final product turned out. It was really fun brainstorming how each letter could be illustrated using baking supplies or ingredients. I felt that I was able to be really creative in this project. Also, I was able to explore more platforms to work on and use in my projects. Adding in all the small details definitely gave my piece an entirely new look and brought it to something that I didn’t think I would be able to achieve. However, I do think that are some places that I could work on. The letter “E” gets a little lost and doesn’t really look like the letter unless you look closer. In a way, that could be a good or bad thing. I would say my favorite letter is the “A.” I love how the oven turned out with the detailing on the stove and on the oven window. Plus, you can see through the window to see the inside which I thought was a nice touch. This project makes me excited to explore more with other apps when doing digital projects.
Link to Portfolio Piece: Mashup